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Piraeus Banks Clients Speak Out

02/02/2016/0 Comments/in EU, Piraeus Bank /by BankAdmin

International Banking gone wrong!

15/01/2016/0 Comments/in EU, Frontpage News, Piraeus Bank /by BankAdmin

The fall of the Piraeus Bank sounds like a fictional story, however sadly it is not fiction. It appears that the stage was set for a severe banking crisis a few years back with the economic collapse of the Republic of Cyprus in 2012. This crisis was the precursor to the demise of the Piraeus […]

Piraeus Banks Clients Speak Out

02/02/2016/0 Comments/in EU, Piraeus Bank /by BankAdmin

International Banking gone wrong!

15/01/2016/0 Comments/in EU, Frontpage News, Piraeus Bank /by BankAdmin

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Piraeus Banks Clients Speak Out

02/02/2016/0 Comments/in EU, Piraeus Bank /by BankAdmin

The effects of the rise of the Piraeus bank issue and its aftermath are still being observed and counted. The people most affected by the unethical banking practice of Piraeus Bank and its poor management policies was its clientele based on general public. The horrors and panic faced by the clients is unfathomable and its psychological effects long lasting. As the authorities have done a fairly good job in suppressing most negative information, it has become increasingly difficult to find the many client complains and comments that had been on online regarding Piraeus Bank. But going down that internet rabbit hole there still remains a few client complains and experiences that went unnoticed.

According to several clients of the bank, “Most Cyprus banks collect a commission of 1.5 percent on average when changing 500-euro bills for notes of lower denominations, citing this as a administrative cost of keeping their branches stocked with notes of smaller value” (“Greek Banks Admit To Charging Customers To Exchange Big Bills For Smaller Ones | Zero Hedge”).

The effects on the bank’s customers were atrocious, and below are some documented Piraeus Bank clients that shared their stories and experiences with us. This Piraeus Bank customer explained that he had been a customer for approximately six years. He explained that the bank had closed and frozen his accounts overnight, with no prior notification. This created a situation where he could not pay his employees and suppliers, and was not even able to pay for his living expenses. All his incoming payments including his regular monthly payroll, and all inbound and outgoing wire transfers were stopped and rejected. After contacting the bank dozens of times they continued to assure him that they would look after everything, however, there was never any follow through.

Time and again they were asked for documentation, of which they agreed they would send, and once again no follow through. This has not only damaged his business reputation he has also lost long term employees and credibility with his suppliers. Many of his suppliers were well known by the bank and had been receiving monthly wire transfers, however, the resulting inefficiency of Piraeus Bank has created a situation where numerous suppliers have changed the terms of his ongoing business in a negative way. Sadly this client went on to say that both his financial losses and the company time he lost were horrific, and he feels that his situation breathes remnants of the Marfin Bank situation, and is non-recoupable.

Another customer went on to say; Piraeus Bank has a severe problem with ethics and morality and feels that this bank impoverishes investors by inducing them to buy bad investments. Furthermore, we feel we have been robbed – the bank that we are supposed to be able to trust to keep our funds safe is sleazy, predatory, and abusive. This client to date is still trying to recover from this economic disaster.

Another Piraeus bank customer says that he was abused time and time again by Piraeus banks “so called” customer service, and was placed on hold for up to forty to fifty minutes, and then once connected he had to go through countless adverts for bank services, and then through double authorizations to FINALLY get to a human being, only to be told that the customer service representative wanted his information all over again, could not resolve his issues, and then was either disconnected and placed on hold again. Nothing to date has been resolved; not his frozen bank accounts nor any of his rejected bill payments. He shook his head sadly and said his “life is a complete mess.”

The stress and psychological pressures the clients of Piraeus Bank have gone through is unimaginable. The life savings of old people and the young were equally withheld by the banks without prior intimation or announcement. Not being able to access your own hard earned money just because the banks mismanaged their resources or the fact that they were working with the central governments to follow their policies is a savagery at a whole other level. It is important to note that the crisis could have been averted had the banks properly followed the banking principles, audit procedures and invested out of personal agendas. But in any case it is as always the general public which suffers and so is the case in this crisis.

Many of Piraeus Banks former clients have said that they are far from feeling satisfied that any form of punishment has been forthcoming, and feel that the deeper underlying issue is that they never got closure from this crisis, and continue to feel that the crisis is still going on. The larger issue they say is that it still feels like unfinished business.

International Banking gone wrong!

15/01/2016/0 Comments/in EU, Frontpage News, Piraeus Bank /by BankAdmin

As far back as October, 2015, Piraeus Bank customer deposits totaled approximately 34.5 billion euros, and it seemed the bank had a strong financial structure (Zikakou).

However now, in the light of what has happened, it has been determined that the bank did not bother to admit that these customer deposits were tied up in large unsecured loans and investments, and were very high risk. Confirmed reports are that the clients of the Cypriot banks lost close to three billion euros, (most of which came from the seizure of said uninsured bank deposits) which a Greek bank then received as profit. Hundreds of Cypriots have appealed to the European Court of Justice, and the Central Bank of Cyprus intends to launch an investigation (“Thepressproject”).

This past July 2016 Piraeus Bank Chairman Michalis Sallas announced his intention to step down. (“Piraeus Bank Chairman Michalis Sallas Said To Be Stepping Down | Kathimerini”). Similarly the chief executive of Piraeus Bank was also asked by the government to leave his seat as the bank was in a shambles and had become the weakest of the big four banks of Greece.

The nearly bankrupt Piraeus bank was also involved in buying Cyprus’s two largest banks at rock bottom prices because of the PIMCO report. Beyond the conspiracy theories and calumny, PIMCO gave in to the pressure by the IMF, the European central bank and the European commission to declare that the major banks of Cyprus were in a deteriorating state. The result was many depositors lost their life savings and suffered from mental and financial setbacks.

A special report was headlined IN Reuters “A Greek banker’s secret property deals” and was issued in April, 2006 (link.reuters.com/nun47s). In this report it was claimed that Piraeus Bank loans had purchased several properties and these properties were owned by different private investment companies. Further investigations found these properties were directed by the children and the wife of the chairman of Piraeus Bank, Michalis Sallas.

In March 2013, Piraeus bank sued Reuters for damages of 50 million euros for publishing the story that accused the Sallas family of wrongdoing. In the lawsuit, Reuters was accused of malicious defamation with intentions to harm the Greek banking system. According to the global head of communication of Reuters, Barb Burg; the case was dismissed by the court on grounds of a technicality. The bank was unable to prove its case that the article issued by Reuters contained any false information or negative intentions to hamper the banking system, and was dismissed.

Hundreds of lawsuits are already in place against the Piraeus Bank due to the way the restructuring is being handled, and we have never seen a messier or more confusing situation. The resulting confusion has created delays and increased local and international litigation claims creating ever greater uncertainty. It is still a wait and see situation.